Domestic violence and sexual abuse in The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: The crisis of Subjectivity
Abstract
Black women are born and bred to be courageous, bold, and without pain. However, the strength they have had to portray is the abuse they endure in silence. In their fiction, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison portray black female protagonists who suffered domestic abuse and sexual violence. In this study, Julia Kristeva’s theory of subjectivity is assigned to reflect how females regain their authentic and natural place in the culture and political language through active participation. Not only do they free themselves from oppression, but they also save the male subject from emptiness, instability, and immobility. However, the sheer honesty portrayed within the pages of The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye was not warmly welcomed by the black community mainly because they stray from the norm and portray the struggles of black women at the hands of fellow black men. For Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, silence is not the way to go, suggesting Kristeva’s solutions to the problem of female subjectivity due to the edifice of participation. Hence, this study highlights domestic violence and sexual abuse in The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison through the depiction of the lost subjectivity. Walker, Morrison, and feminist critics highlight the analogies between black-feminist authors who do not compete with other females or their mothers—but cause substantial competition at the academic level—and this is an ingenuous sense of human nature. Regardless of the economic difficulties of modern life, racial terrors, and the cultural background of African-Americans, they observe how the American society mirrors the untold truths of blacks who speak to the world about their sufferings. Being a global and well-known figure for Walker and Morrison leads to voicing African-American society’s concerns and reflecting its culture and identity.
References
- A layered look at domestic violence in the Black Community. Coburn Place. (2022, May 12). Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://coburnplace.org/stories/a-layered-look-at-domestic-violence-in-the-black-community/
- Barlow, J. N. (2020, February). Black women, the forgotten survivors of sexual assault. In the Public Interest. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2020/02/black-women-sexual-assault.
- Bhardwaj, N. (2016). The Bluest Eye: A tragedy of oppression and internalized racism. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 4(8), 101–104. https://doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.0408014
- Collins, P. H. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.
- Duru, N. J. (2004). The Central Park Five, The Scottsboro Boys, and the myth of the bestial Black man. Cardozo Law Review, 25, 1315- 1345. Available from http://papers.ssrn.com/ sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=814072
- Guberman, R. (Ed.) (1996). Julia Kristeva Interviews. Columbia University Press.
- Hall, D. E. (2006). Subjectivity. Routledge.
- Harris, N. B. (2020, June 6). Adverse childhood experiences. Mutual Assistance Network. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.mutualassistance.org/adverse-childhood-experiences/
- Hooks, B. (2001). Ain’t I A woman: Black women and feminism. Pluto Press.
- Jordan, L. M. (2002). Domestic violence in the African American community: The role of the Black Church. In S. Sered (Ed.), Religious healing in Boston: Reports from the Field (Ser. The Religion, Health, and Healing Initiative (RHHI), pp. 15–24). essay, Harvard UP.
- King, Y. (1984). The eco-feminist imperative, in S. Caldecott & S. Leland (Eds.),
- Reclaim the Earth: Women Speak Out for Life on Earth, Quartet Books Ltd.
- Knadler, S. (2004). Domestic violence in the Harlem renaissance: Remaking the Record in Nella Larsen’s “Passing” and Toni Morrison’s “Jazz.” African American Review, 38(1), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1512234
- Kristeva, J. (1981). Women’s times in signs. Journal of women in culture and society, 7(1), 13-35.
- -------------. (1982). Power of horror: An essay on abjection, trans. Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press, 1-31.
- -------------. (1984). Revolution in poetic language, trans. M. Waller, Introduction by L. S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (1991). Strangers to Ourselves, trans. Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (1995). New Maladies of the Soul, trans. R. Guberman, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (2000). The Sense and Non-sense of Revolt: The Power and Limits of Psychoanalysis, 1, trans. J. Herman, Columbia University Press.
- Lawrence, D. (1991). Fleshly Ghost and Ghostly Flesh: The Word and the Body in Beloved. Studies in American Fiction, 19(2), 189–201. doi:10.1353/saf.1991.0014.
- Lister, R. (2010). Alice Walker, the color purple. (N. Tredell, Ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
- McAfee, N. (2003). Julia Kristeva (1st ed., Ser. Routledge Critical Thinkers). Routledge.
- Morrison, T. (2007). The bluest eye. Vintage International.
- Oliver, K. (Ed.). (2002). The portable kristeva. Columbia University Press.
- Phillips, L. (2006). The womanist reader. Routledge.
- Plumwood, V. (1993). Feminism and the mastery of nature (Ser. Opening Out: Feminism for Today). Routledge.
- Skinner, Q. (1989). Meaning and understanding in the history of ideas, Princton University Press.
- Sommerville, D. M. (2004). Rape and race in the nineteenth-century South. University of North Carolina Press.
- Walker, A. (1985). The color purple. Pocket Books.
- West, C. & Johnson, K. (2013, March). Sexual violence in the lives of African American women. Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Available at: http://www.vawnet.org
- Williams, C. C. (2022, February 2). How Toni Morrison’s ‘the bluest eye’ shatters myths about Black Girlhood. gal-dem. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://gal-dem.com/toni-morrison-bluest-eye-candice-carty-williams-black-girlhood/.
Alice Walker’ın Renklerden Moru ve Toni Morrison’un En Mavi Göz romanlarında aile içi şiddet ve cinsel istismar: Öznellik sorunu
Abstract
Siyahi kadınlar cesaretli ve acıya dayanıklı olarak doğar ve yetiştirilirler, ancak sergiledikeleri dayanıklık, gizlice tahammül ettikleri tacize karşı olan tepkiden ibarettir. Alice Walker ve Toni Morrison edebi romanlarında, aile içi istismar ve cinsel şiddete maruz kalan siyahi kadın kahramanları tasvir ediyorlar. Bu makale, Julia Kristeva’nın Öznellik teorisini baz alarak, kadınların aktif katılımının özgün ve doğal taraflarının kültür ve politik açıdan tekrar kazandırma yollarını incelemektedir. Böylece kadınlar sadece kendilerini baskıdan kurtarmakla kalmayıp, ayrıca, erkek özneyi boşluktan, istikrarsızlıktan ve hareketsizlikten de kurtarabilirler. Buna karşılık, Renklerden Moru ve En Mavi Göz’ün sayfalarında tasvir edilen saf dürüstlük, siyah topluluk tarafından sıcak karşılanmamıştır. İletinin sebebi, esas olarak normdan sapmış gözüken siyahi kadınların mücadelelerinin siyahi erkeklere bağlı olduğunu kurgulanarak gösterildiğinden kaynaklanmış olabilir. Toni Morrison ve Alice Walker için sessiz kalmak anlaşılabilir bir sorun değildir ve buna dayalı olarak, bu çalışma, Kristeva’nın kadın öznelliğinin yapısına dayalı olarak önerdiği çözümler ve tasvir ettiği dünya alternatif olarak sunulmuştur. Böylece, kayıp öznelliğin tasviri aracılığı ile, Alice Walker’ın Renklerden Moru ve Toni Morrison’un En Mavi Göz romanlarında, siyahi toplumun aile içi şiddet ve cinsel istismar sorunu incelenmektedir. Walker, Morrison ve çoğu feminist eleştirmen, insanın doğasında olan başka kadınlarla veya anne ile rekabet etme duygusu ötesinde—akademik düzeyde önemli bir rekabete rağmen—siyahi feminist yazarlar arasındaki analojileri vurgulamaktadırlar. Modern hayatın ekonomik zorluklarından, ırksal terörlerden ve Afrikalı-Amerikalıların kültürel geçmişinden bağımsız olarak, her iki yazar da dünyaya acıları hakkında konuşan Amerikalı siyahilerin anlatılan gerçeklerin yansımasını sağlıyorlar. Onlar için küresel ve tanınmış bir figür olmak, Afrikalı-Amerikalı toplumun endişelerini, kültürünü ve kimliğini dile getirme ve yansıtılması için bir araçtır.
References
- A layered look at domestic violence in the Black Community. Coburn Place. (2022, May 12). Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://coburnplace.org/stories/a-layered-look-at-domestic-violence-in-the-black-community/
- Barlow, J. N. (2020, February). Black women, the forgotten survivors of sexual assault. In the Public Interest. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2020/02/black-women-sexual-assault.
- Bhardwaj, N. (2016). The Bluest Eye: A tragedy of oppression and internalized racism. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 4(8), 101–104. https://doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.0408014
- Collins, P. H. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.
- Duru, N. J. (2004). The Central Park Five, The Scottsboro Boys, and the myth of the bestial Black man. Cardozo Law Review, 25, 1315- 1345. Available from http://papers.ssrn.com/ sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=814072
- Guberman, R. (Ed.) (1996). Julia Kristeva Interviews. Columbia University Press.
- Hall, D. E. (2006). Subjectivity. Routledge.
- Harris, N. B. (2020, June 6). Adverse childhood experiences. Mutual Assistance Network. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.mutualassistance.org/adverse-childhood-experiences/
- Hooks, B. (2001). Ain’t I A woman: Black women and feminism. Pluto Press.
- Jordan, L. M. (2002). Domestic violence in the African American community: The role of the Black Church. In S. Sered (Ed.), Religious healing in Boston: Reports from the Field (Ser. The Religion, Health, and Healing Initiative (RHHI), pp. 15–24). essay, Harvard UP.
- King, Y. (1984). The eco-feminist imperative, in S. Caldecott & S. Leland (Eds.),
- Reclaim the Earth: Women Speak Out for Life on Earth, Quartet Books Ltd.
- Knadler, S. (2004). Domestic violence in the Harlem renaissance: Remaking the Record in Nella Larsen’s “Passing” and Toni Morrison’s “Jazz.” African American Review, 38(1), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1512234
- Kristeva, J. (1981). Women’s times in signs. Journal of women in culture and society, 7(1), 13-35.
- -------------. (1982). Power of horror: An essay on abjection, trans. Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press, 1-31.
- -------------. (1984). Revolution in poetic language, trans. M. Waller, Introduction by L. S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (1991). Strangers to Ourselves, trans. Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (1995). New Maladies of the Soul, trans. R. Guberman, Columbia University Press.
- -------------. (2000). The Sense and Non-sense of Revolt: The Power and Limits of Psychoanalysis, 1, trans. J. Herman, Columbia University Press.
- Lawrence, D. (1991). Fleshly Ghost and Ghostly Flesh: The Word and the Body in Beloved. Studies in American Fiction, 19(2), 189–201. doi:10.1353/saf.1991.0014.
- Lister, R. (2010). Alice Walker, the color purple. (N. Tredell, Ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
- McAfee, N. (2003). Julia Kristeva (1st ed., Ser. Routledge Critical Thinkers). Routledge.
- Morrison, T. (2007). The bluest eye. Vintage International.
- Oliver, K. (Ed.). (2002). The portable kristeva. Columbia University Press.
- Phillips, L. (2006). The womanist reader. Routledge.
- Plumwood, V. (1993). Feminism and the mastery of nature (Ser. Opening Out: Feminism for Today). Routledge.
- Skinner, Q. (1989). Meaning and understanding in the history of ideas, Princton University Press.
- Sommerville, D. M. (2004). Rape and race in the nineteenth-century South. University of North Carolina Press.
- Walker, A. (1985). The color purple. Pocket Books.
- West, C. & Johnson, K. (2013, March). Sexual violence in the lives of African American women. Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Available at: http://www.vawnet.org
- Williams, C. C. (2022, February 2). How Toni Morrison’s ‘the bluest eye’ shatters myths about Black Girlhood. gal-dem. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://gal-dem.com/toni-morrison-bluest-eye-candice-carty-williams-black-girlhood/.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | World languages and litertures |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 21, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Issue: 37 |
RumeliDE Journal of Language and Literature Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).